C-Lekktor, a leading name in the dark elektro scene alongside Hocico, Rabia Sorda, and Amduscia, celebrates its 20 years anniversary. Markko B. has now released a special “2.0” double-CD deluxe digipak on Alfa Matrix. This release includes fan-favorite club hits and revamped versions of 12 classic tracks.

This 2CD version is available now via the Alfa Matrix website, the download version via Bandcamp. The album is also available in a special combi pack along the new releases from AD:keY and Miseria Ultima.

On this new album Markko B. has breathed new life into frequently requested songs performed at concerts. Updated tracks such as “An Empty Soul”, “Infected”, “Paralisis”, “See My Hate”, “El Comienzo De La Muerte”, and “Our Dark Side” are reimagined and rearranged, while classics like “World Of Fantasy”, “Juicio Final”, “Hellektro Convulsion Therapy”, “Solo En La Oscuridad”, and “Silence Remains” have received powerful makeovers.

The release also features harsh elektro tracks in their original form from recent albums, including fresh tracks like “God Killer” and “Are You Ready For The Bass?” alongside dancefloor cuts “Out Of My Way”, “Cyborgs”, and the track “Animals”.

Additionally, the double-CD set includes the exclusive unreleased track “I Don’t”, originally written during “The Silence Procession” era, and a cover of Depeche Mode’s “Always You”.

You can listen to all of the tracks below.

Fans of dark hellektro music, especially those who enjoy Suicide Commando, Hocico, Alien Vampires, or Noisuf-X, will find this double-CD essential.

About C-Lekktor

C-Lekktor, spearheaded by Marco Antonio Barrientos (Markko B.), has been an important force in the dark elektro scene for over two decades. Emerging from the vibrant Mexican electro scene of the 1990s, C-Lekktor made its first appearance with the demo CD “Re-a-Gression”.

Known for its aggressive and energetic sound, characterized by harsh vocals, pounding beats, and dark, atmospheric melodies, the project gained widespread recognition with performances across Mexico and internationally.

In 2005, the project released the maxi-CD “Words of Evil” and participated in the “Electro Map-Latam Compilation”. The following years saw C-Lekktor performing extensively, including concerts in Peru and Chile, and performances on major events like the “Necropolis Fest”.

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As Eldrina Mich I work as a go-between and a devil’s advocate when it comes to Side-Line. If our own staff needs to be interviewed then ask the questions no one else dares to ask.

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The German dark electro combo To Avoid has joined forces with the Belgian electro label Alfa Matrix for the release of their new studio album, “All Gods Are Gone”. Before that the label first releases “1989” which is a first taste of what is to come.

The track itself is a reflection on the enduring legacy of the fall of the Berlin Wall 35 years later. Through the lyrics they delve into the complexities of a society still grappling with the divisions between East and West, challenging the lofty ideals of German reunification.

The 9-track EP features the title track “1989” and a 2011 demo version of “Aerial Warfare”, plus 7 remixes of the title track by Erk Aircrag (Hocico, Rabia Sorda), Fektion Fekler, Ntrsn, Proleturan, Sluk Motoren, Synaptic Defekt, and Töt. You can order the download version now on Bandcamp with other platforms to follow.

For the die-hard fans and CD collectors out there, Alfa Matrix also offers a MCD version which is limited to 200 copies and which is normally only available at concerts by To Avoid.

A video was launched as well for the track “1989”.

About To Avoid

To Avoid was formed just outside Berlin in 1998 by GrandT and Marc. Musically the band fuses late 80s EBM industrial with 90s melodic dark electro. The aim was to create music that corresponded to the band’s own view of electro and to counteract the increasing wave of future pop.

Later on the duo was joined by producer Cheffe (DJ Starve) and Jean, who from then on also took over the design/graphics tasks in the band.

A first single was launched in 2000, “Aggressive Conglomerations”, and by 2002 their debut album “Resurrection” followed. Two more studio albums followed with the last one beging “Passion And Pain” in 2009 (followed by the mini live album “Live @ Luckenwalde” in 2010). In 2022 they resurrected with two singles, “Driver” and “Trust”.

Now they prepare a brand new album, their first in over 15 years.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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On Friday 25th and Saturday 26th of August, the largest Gothic gathering in Central Europe will once again return to Prague. It features an expanded line-up of 14 bands (including icons Sigue Sigue Sputnik and Pink Turns Blue as well as bands like Rabia Sorda and Agent Side Grinder), DJs and the traditional gothic picnic.

Tickets have gone on sale now. Entry is 890 CZK + fees (GoOut).

In a reaction the organisation tells us this: “It’s hard to believe that Prague Gothic Treffen is turning eighteen this year. Yet it doesn’t seem that long ago when we first organized a gathering for a few gothic enthusiasts and played bands we’d never seen live from Winamp with religious reverence. But the years don’t lie, and PGT has since grown to become the biggest gothic gathering in Central Europe, still attracting more and more visitors from home and abroad. Last year’s move of the event ‘to a bigger place’ was a great success, so even this year, we can expect two concurrent stages in the inter-connected clubs Fuchs 2 and Bike Jesus. Here you will hear everything from traditional goth to the hottest trends of the dark scene.”

The linup consist of: Sigue Sigue Sputnik (UK), Rabia Sorda (MX/D), Pink Turns Blue (D), Agent Side Grinder (S), Sydney Valette (F), NNHMN (D), Golden Apes (D), Noktva (I), Dead Lights (NL/UK), Ductape (TR), Grundeis (D), Już Nie Żyjesz (PL), Warteraum (CZ/A), Latexotiq (CZ).

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Photo: picture alliance/dpa, Alexander Prautzsch

After a two years break, due to Covid-19, the annual Wave-Gotik-Treffen 2022 (29th edition) will take place from 3rd-6th June in the Agra-Halle and surrounded area of Leipzig, Germany.

WGT focuses especially on the gothic, (steam)punk, new wave, electro, EBM, industrial and medieval music and (sub)culture. It is a total-concept world festival including concerts, renaissance fairs, viking and pagan markets, exhibitions, CD/DVD and film premieres, lectures, artist signing events, fetish events, and (late-night) parties.

Approximately 200 artists are on the list, spread over more than 50 locations and the festival has about 20.000 visitors. As usual a lot of names out of the dark scene will play WGT: Lacrimosa, IAMX, Clan of Xymox, Combichrist, Rabia Sorda, Corvus Corax, VNV Nation, Orange Sector, Tanzwut, Xotox, Eisfabrik, Unzucht, Nachtblut, NNHMN, Linea Aspera, Minuit Machine, Dark, Fïx8:Sëd8, Letzte Instanz, Nosferatu, …

Tickets for WGT soon can be ordered here (entrance tickets purchased in the years 2020 or 2021 remain valid for the WGT 2022).

‘Erk Aicrag’ (Erik Garcia) and ‘Racso Agroyam’ (Oscar Mayorga) set up Hocico in 1993. The Mexican duo rapidly became one of the references when speaking about dark-electronic music. They released an impressive list of successful album and got numerous hits played by DJ’s all over the world. Hocico definitely belongs to the dark-electronic music history. They now released their new opus “Artificial Extinction” (Out Of Line), which has something refreshing while carried by an impressive, mature sound production. I contacted singer Erk Aicrag to get more details about this album.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: It’s the first time Hocico fans had to wait such a long time for a new studio album. How do you explain this hiatus of four years and when did you start the writing of “Artificial Extinction”?

Erk: We already made our fans wait for about the same amount of time between the albums “Wrack And Ruin” and “Memorias Atras”. Besides being busy with the family life in the time between “Ofensor” and “Artificial Extinction” we were busy touring the world as usual plus we released our first “Best Of” record (cf. “The Spell Of The Spider”) in 2017 along with an EP full of fresh songs entitled “Spider Bites”. In 2018 I was busy recording a new Rabia Sorda-album and playing shows with this band too. There’s no rest for the wicked!    

Q: What is the new album all about? What have been the main sources of inspiration and how do you look back at the writing and recording of this album?

Erk: The title deals with two concepts, ‘Artificial Intelligence’ and ‘Human Extinction’. The idea that we, humans could go extinct due to unforeseen events in the development of our own technology, precisely ‘Artificial Intelligence’ has captured our attention since it might not seem a threat right now, but it might be in the future. 

Bright minds like Elon Musk or Stephen Hawking warned us about it and they both think (thought in the case of Stephen) it is already too late for humans to reverse the effects of artificial intelligence in the future. This is the overall scenery that this album presents, especially the self-titled song. It is a way to describe how the world is turning to a dark place due to the misuse of our technology.

We wrote this album during the winter of 2018 and 2019, and it was real fun to achieve it. Somehow, we feel we are getting good at making records, we are fucking proud of it!

Q: I personally experienced “Artificial Extinction” as one of your most innovative releases in history; the production of the vocals sounds more polished while the sound treatments reveal some new elements as well. It all feels like something has changed and I even dare to say it’s one of your most accomplished works to date! Did you feel the need to try something new and maybe different?

Erk: We have learned a lot about making records along the years; everything from the technical side of things, like recording and producing to vocal techniques and song-writing. We made use of all of that on “Artificial Extinction” and fortunately the magic happened.

Ever since we started making music, we have always tried to make something different on every album, but it seems we managed to do it this time. We really prefer to fail trying something different than repeating the same formula from album to album. 

Q: There always has been a strong cinematic element in your music, but here again “Artificial Extinction” reveals a few great songs in the genre, but especially “El Ballet Mecanico”. Tell us a bit more about this song and the cinematic side of the album? What would you think about releasing a real soundtrack?

Erk: The title was inspired by Kurt Schmidt’s theater play from the 1920’s; it is based on the mechanic movements of the body. The song brings to mind the movements and sounds of a doll music box.

Hocico has always explored the cinematic music because basically you can express feelings without words in it. We have already contributed with music to a couple of films like “Perfume De Violetas” and “The Guest” and certainly it would be cool to be involved in a soundtrack of a full movie.     

Q: Artwork has been always an important element, but what can you tell us about the artwork for “Artificial Extinction” and the link with the lyrical content?

Erk: Last year we discovered this amazing German artist called Jochen Schilling; he had the perfect artworks to express graphically what we wanted on this album. Basically portraits of humanoids, that give the impression to be part humans, part machines living in a dark world.   We contacted him and he was willing to collaborate with us. The rest of the design and artwork was made by our long time designer and collaborator Userdx.

Q: There’s a new live tour in the pipeline. After all these years of touring do you still feel the same sensation when playing live and especially when playing in your homeland? Can you give us more details (setlist, image, live visuals…) about the new shows?

Erk: Oh yes, one of the most exciting things about being involved with Hocico is that we get to play all these shows around the world and besides the hassle of security at the airports and traffic on big cities, it is still worth traveling to be close to our fans. It always is special to play in Mexico as we get to meet our families and old friend’s there. Our live set is composed of 30% songs of “Artificial Extinction” and 70% of songs from almost all our history, including the songs that our fans regard as ‘hits’. We created brand new visuals for it and we hope some of you will join us on one of the shows!  

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

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Genre/Influences: Gothic, goth-metal, industrial, dark-rock.

Background/Info: Ten years after the first official release (cf. “Dry the Rain”) Lord Of The Lost the German band set up by Chris Harms unleashes this massive ‘best of’. There are different versions and format available, but we here get a fine selection of four discs.

Content: The first disc is the one and only ‘best of’ looking back at the band’s first decade of existence. Lord Of The Lost deals with goth-metal music, but sometimes move into a more electro/industrial sound. From heavy metal guitar assaults to melancholic ballads, this first disc will give you an interesting summarizes of this band.

The second disc features ‘rarities’ featuring 2 songs together with Hocico front man Erk Aicrag. This is an opportunity to (re)discover less familiar cuts.

We next get a disc with remixes by a much diversified list of artists active in different –although related, music genres. We here get 18 (!) remixes by bands such as Blutengel, Chrom, Formalin, Solar Fake, Subway To Sally, Mono Inc., Rabia Sorda ao.

Last, but not least the last disc features demo versions.

+ + + : No doubt about it, this is a real complete ‘anthology’-album and a must have for the fans. Speaking for myself, I think the first disc (cf. ‘best of’) brings an interesting view upon the past ten years of the band. From their legendary and totally funny “La Bomba” to the ballad like “See You Soon” to the “2019”-version of the title song this album reveals the diversity of Lord Of The Lost. Another interesting disc is the one featuring the remixes. You’ll hear a real eclectic selection of remixes from pure metal to electro to orchestral to rock a billy.

– – – : Lord Of The Lost are ‘big’ in their homeland, but outside Germany they’ve never reached a similar status. So in the end it mainly remains a German phenomenon!

Conclusion: This kind of albums is always interesting for die-hard fans, but also for music lovers who want to discover a band they aren’t really familiar with.

Best songs: “Drag Me To Hell”, “Till Death Us Do Part 2019”, “La Bomba”, “See You Soon”, “Raining Stars” + “The Most Radical Thing To Do”, “Morsal” + “ Afterlife Of Death -Afterlife Remix by Unzucht”, “Kill It With Fire – But Kill It Good – Rabia Sorda Version”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/lordofthelost 

Label: www.outofline.de  / www.facebook.com/outoflinelabel

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

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Genre/Influences: Dark electro-pop.

Background/Info: Set up in 2017 by Liss Eulenherz (Intent:Outtake, Project Snowflake), Clodi Korzin (La Magra, Mental Defect) and ‘machinist’ Daniel Korzin (Mental Defect) this German trio already got a very positive response in their homeland and this before unleashing this official debut album.

Content: The work is driven by both female vocalists while Daniel Korzin is doing some backing vocals as well. I sometimes got the impression the music was composed to accompany both singers. The sound has something electro-wave and dark-pop like. It’s the kind of work that might appeal for lovers of early L’Âme Immortelle.

The album features 10 songs plus 5 remixes by Eisfabrik, ES23, Rabia Sorda, Mechanical Moth and Rroyce.

+ + + : The main strength of the album is emerging from the great vocals, which in a way inject some melody to the music. Sound-wise “Acid Pops” caught my attention with some filtered electro treatments. The best part for sure is the last one revealing great remixes by Eisfabrik and Rabia Sorda.

– – – : I can’t get away from the idea there’s something wrong with an album when you prefer the remixes instead of the original versions. Well, that’s precisely what I experienced listening to “Acid Pops”. The original edits are missing punchy choruses and a bit more elaboration in the composition.

Conclusion: There are some good ideas running through the work, but I’m afraid that’s not enough to speak about a successful album. But let’s not forget this is just the first album from a new band!

Best songs: “Incendio – Remixed by Eisfabrik”, “Breathe Me In – Remixed by Engel / Rabnia Sorda, Palast”, “Wasteland”, “Finite Incantatem”.

Rate: (6).

Artist: www.sonorus7.com / www.facebook.com/Sonorus7

Label: www.dansemacabre–group.de / www.facebook.com/dansemacabrerec

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

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Genre/Influences: Dark-pop, wave-pop.

Background/Info: The new Blutengel album comes exactly 20 years after the band’s official debut opus “Child Of Glass”. Blutengel became one of the absolute leading formations from the electro-underground scene and has never stopped releasing referential albums. After the brilliant “Vampire”- and “Surrender To The Darkness”-EPs we now get “Un:Gott” featuring 15 songs on the main disc and 9 remixes on the bonus disc.

Content: Blutengel remains faithful to its dark/wave-pop music mainly characterized by solid melody lines and great choruses, but it’s also an album with empowering guitar parts. The familiar “Vampire” song is one of the best illustrations from this ‘heavier’ and yet melodic approach. “Un:Gott” also appears as one of the Blutengel albums with more English sung songs than ever before. Chris Pohl’s deep timbre of voice excels in charisma while Ulrike Goldmann brings her familiar heavenly and sensual touch to the work.

The bonus disc features remixes by Rave The Reqviem, Any Second, Wort-Ton, Angriffspakt, X-RX, Rabia Sorda, Harmjoy, Battlescream and one remix of the song “Auf Deinen Wegen” (originally featured at the “Vampire”-EP) remixed by Blutengel.

+ + + : Blutengel holds on to  the elements that have made this band become what they are today. It’s a dark and melodic electro/wave-pop format on, which Chris Pohl once more excels in the writing of carrying melody lines. But the essence of a ‘great’ pop song also is the power and magic of a chorus and here again “Un:Gott” confirms great skills. But Blutengel is not a ‘classical’ formation dealing with pop, but a formation with a very specific sound DNA; a band you can’t compare with any other one. And also a band that all over the years has progressively evolved, accentuating some elements of the production such as powerful guitar parts. I also have to say a word about the meaningful lyrical content, which has something deep, metaphoric and psychological. “Vampire” remains an absolute attention grabber –and definitely one of my all time favorite Blutengel songs, but I also have to mention “Into The Void”, “Alles”, “Surrender To The Darkness” and “Morningstar”.

Among the remixes I noticed great contributions by Rave The Reqviem, Angriffspakt and X-RX.

– – – : Remixes always are a nice addition as extra disc, but they don’t really bring a bonus compared to the original versions.

Conclusion: Blutengel has released an impressive number of albums over the past 20 years, but I definitely consider “Un:Gott” as one of the most accomplished and successful ones. A must have!

Best songs: “Vampire”, “Into The Void”, “Alles”, “Surrender To The Darkness”, “Morningstar”, “Am Ende Der Zeit”, “Praise The Lord” + “Into The Void – Rave The Reqviem Remix”.

Rate: (9).

Artist: www.blutengel.de / www.facebook.com/BlutengelOfficial

Label: www.outofline.de  / www.facebook.com/outoflinelabel

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: EBM, dark-electro, future-pop, electro-pop, gothic, industrial-rock, industrial-metal.

Background/Info: The latest volume of the Out Of Line compilation “Awake The Machines” brings us 3 CD’s for a total of 45 artists.

Artists: Blutengel, Solar Fake, Rummelsnuff, Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio, Heimataerde, Rave The Reqviem, Fear Of Domination, Davey Suicide, Combichrist, Rabia Sorda, Ost-Front, Solitary Experiments, Melotron, Hocico, Signal Aout 42, Accessory, Dive, Suicide Commando, Amduscia ao.

Content: The first disc is the most eclectic one although more focalized around gothic-inspired formations. The second disc reveals the ‘newest’ direction of the label, which is inspired by metal-related formations. This is an opportunity to discover different bands that aren’t (or not yet) signed to Out Of Line. Finally we get the last disc revealing electronic bands that have made the name and reputation of Out Of Line.

+ + + : This new edition is quite fascinating for its diversity revealing a label, which has seriously enlarged its sonic horizon throughout the years, but especially during the past few years. The tracklist is impressive and confirms the leading status of the label. When a label has bands such as Blutengel, Suicide Commando, Hocico, Dive, Solitary Experiments, Ost-Front, Combichrist, Ordo Rosarius Equilbrio, Client ao flying under their wings you only, but agree this is a major company.

– – – : From a very personal point of view I’m not totally convinced by the metal direction of the label although it clearly will catch the attention of a wider -and different audience. But my main regret is that the familiar bands have been featured with known songs. I even noticed Angels & Agony with a song from 2015!

Conclusion: This is a colossal compilation, which is really interesting if you’re not that familiar with Out Of Line and/or simply you’re a die-hard fan of the Berlin-based label.

Best bands: Blutengel, The Ritualists, Heimataerde, Rave The Reqviem, Rabia Sorda, Solitary Experiments, Massive Ego, Chrom, Dive, Amduscia.

Rate: (7).

Label: www.outofline.de  / www.facebook.com/outoflinelabel

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

When Erk Aicrag set up Rabia Sorda in 2003 it all sounded as a side-project to his main band Hocico. The original dark-electronic sound progressively evolved from album to album. Fifteen years later Rabia Sorda released its fourth full length in history entitled “The World Ends Today” (Out Of Line). It’s without a shadow of a doubt the hardest and most enraged work ever. The band now consists of Erk Aicrag (vocals, lyrics, machines), Marcus Engel (guitars, keys, percussions) and Maxx (drums). Erk gave me more details about the work.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: The new album “The World Ends Today” is without a shadow of a doubt your darkest and hardest album ever. Tell us a bit more about this evolution in sound and darkness plus what has been the impact of the new band members?

Erk: Right from the beginning I was set out to create a furious and violent sound for this album. My band mate Marcus took the plunge and supported me to create “The World Ends Today” all the way long! Having Marcus and Maxx in the band has definitely made a great impact on Rabia Sorda’s music, they are wild, energetic and crazy too, It’s been refreshing to have them around for the last years.

Q: The new songs are bringing multiple influences together; from metal to industrial to dark-electronics and even punk. How do you explain this diversity and how did the writing and recording of the songs happened?

Erk: I have always been an eclectic music lover for the main part of my life so most of the music I enjoy will definitely find a place in Rabia Sorda’s songs. “The World Ends Today” is an album that at some point Rabia Sorda had to make, just angry, hard and fucking loud. I think a great album has to offer many facets of an artist and “The World Ends Today” has absolutely that.  I had a bunch of songs I had written over the past 3 years and as I showed them to Marcus he got excited and joined forces to bring this album to life.

We both made a great team and started meeting regularly in my studio and slowly started shaping the sound of “The World Ends Today”, we even wrote some songs from scratch together, later on Out Of Line hooked us up with Nils Lesser who did an extraordinary job mixing the album and gave it that extra punch you feel when you listen to it, overall the whole process was a very enriching and stimulating experience!

Q: It’s quiet interesting to see the evolution in sound and influences from your debut album “Métodos Del Caos” (2006) till “The World Ends Today”. It all feels a bit like two different bands! What means this project to you? And tell us a bit more about this artistic freedom and how do you see Rabia Sorda evolving? 

Erk: Rabia Sorda’s sound has been evolving according to my personal artistic and sometimes obsessive needs. In this moment I need an aggressive guitar-driven sound and to scream as loud as possible to produce adrenaline! And I am very proud of how “The World Ends Today” came out, it matches the way Rabia Sorda really sounds in my head. I enjoy the artistic freedom that Rabia Sorda allows me to explore music and I am glad the first album sounds different than the last one, because I am a different person.

Q: Lyrical wise the new album is also filled with extremely dark themes while the vocals have been never that enraged. Tell us a bit more about this interest (maybe fascination) for the ‘evil side of life’ and what does it say about your own perception about life and humanity?   

Erk: I definitely have a fascination for the dark side of life; I am Mexican and that seems to be part of our cultural DNA. I think you have to acknowledge the darkness inside of every human in order to fully enjoy life and there is no better way to do that than having the chance to be violent and furious inside an artistic environment. I think I am good at bringing out the rage and the fury of growing up in a Western modern society. I still want to write music that challenges me and challenges the fans, music that punches you and puts a smile on your face at the same time. Going through the process of writing songs keeps me well-balanced…

Q: “The World Ends Today” features great songs to play live! How do you look back at the latest concerts where you played the new tracks of the album and how would you describe Rabia Sorda on stage?

Erk: The energy of Rabia Sorda during a live concert is amazing, I am addicted to it, there is something really special going on while we three perform. We like to rehearse as much as possible to bring out the best we have on stage. The new songs are lots of fun to play live, We had the chance to play a handful of them in Berlin last May and the audience reaction to them was amazing, it felt fucking good!

One of the biggest motivations to write the songs has always been bringing them to a live performance situation, that is the authentic fun part of being in a band.

Q: Erk, how important is it for you as an artist to get involved with Rabia Sorda, which sounds definitely more ‘rock’n’roll’ than Hocico?

Erk: It is vital for me to have my own personal way to express myself through music. At the other hand it has been mind-blowing being part of Hocico for the last 25 years, so I am very happy being active with both. They offer me different experiences and make me feel complete at this moment and I am very proud of how both bands have been developing creatively through time, still going strong!

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Industrial-metal, dark-electro punk.

Background/Info: Hocico singer ‘Erk Aicrag’ set up Rabia Sorda in 2003. Five years after the previous opus “Hotel Suicide” the Mexican front man joined hands with drummer Maxx and guitarist Marcus Engel to release what has been announced as the ‘hardest’ Rabia Sorda album ever.

Content: The regular album features 17 tracks and the least I can say is that the sound indeed is pretty hard. The song stand for total sonic violence mixing elements such as industrial-, metal-, dark-electro- and punk music together. “The World Ends Today” reflects a hell vision transposed into enraged vocals and heavy songs.

The limited edition features an extra disc of 8 cuts. You here will discover a few more new- and alternative cuts plus remixes by Cypercore, The Chemical Sweet Kid and Sahlvader. This mini-album also features 2 cover versions (including a song of the album covered by Prismatic Shapes).

+ + + : Speaking for myself I think it’s really interesting to see the evolution of Rabia Sorda throughout the years. While the debut album was a bit hesitating and a kind of dark-electronic alternative to Hocico, the next releases progressively featured a different and harder sound. The guitar playing becomes really important now, creating this hard and merciless industrial-metal approach. The rage appears everywhere at this opus. The vocals (mainly sung in English) are just accentuating the ‘evil’ side of this work. I also noticed a cool punk touch running through several songs. On the bonus disc I especially want to mention a cool remix by Chemical Sweet Kid.

– – – : I expected a bit more from the bonus disc. The remixes are cool, but I can’t say they are adding something extra to the album. It sounds more like songs that were made for fun (cf. Los Saicos cover version) while the usual remixes are quite common for limited releases.

Conclusion: “The World Ends Today” is a nihilistic title for a furious release and you know what, I don’t give a damn sh** if the world would end with such a terrific opus. This is definitely the best Rabia Sorda album to date.

Best songs: “Violent Love Songs”, “We’re Not Machines”, “Perfect Black”, “The World Ends Today” + “Violent Love Song – Chemical Sweet Kid Rmx”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.rabiasorda.com / www.facebook.com/rabiasordaofficial

Label: www.outofline.de  / www.facebook.com/outoflinelabel

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

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OST+FRONT are back with a brand new maxi-single, “Fiesta de Sexo!”. The CD single comes in a strictly limited digipak and contains the title song, plus exclusive remixes, demos and cover versions as you can see in the tracklist below. You can already place your order right here. For the occasion the German act teamed up with Erk Aicrag (Hocico/Rabia Sorda).

The limited maxi CD contains the title track in the album version, a previously unreleased demo and three exclusive remixes (by Rabia Sorda, Larva and Among The Living). The band also turned Miley Cyrus’ hit “Wrecking Ball” into a metal-tune with the vocal assistance of Blutengel’s Ulrike Goldmann. Massive Ego from their side turned the song “Nein” into a club track while the band Krankheit (support act on OST+FRONT’s “Ultra”-tour) have recorded a cover version of “Liebeslied”.

Here’s the video for “Fiesta de Sexo (feat. Erk Aicrag)”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLhcroH3h7o

Tracklist:

1. Fiesta de Sexo (Album Version)
2. Wrecking Ball
3. Fiesta de Sexo (Larva Remix)
4. Nein (Massive Ego Remix – Radio Edit)
5. Fiesta de Sexo (Rabia Sorda Remix)
6. Fiesta de Sexo (Among The Living Remix)
7. Liebeslied (Coverversion von Krankheit)
8. Fiesta de Sexo (Demo Version)

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Out by the end of June will be a limited and hand-numbered edition of 999 copies of the brand new EP by the Mexican-German act Rabia Sorda. The new EP, titled “King of the wasteland”, comes bundled with the b-side “Monster”.

Also included are these 3 remixes: “King of the Wasteland (Feil Version)”, “Monster (remixed by Practice)” and “King of the Wasteland (remixed by Shaârghot, feat. ClemX)”.

The EP can be ordered right here.

Rabia Sorda is the side project of Erk Aicrag, lead singer of the Mexican aggrotech band Hocico. Rabia Sorda compare to Hocico is somewhat less aggressive and noisy than Hocico. The first album was the 2006 release “Metodos del Caos”.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com